DOSSIER TO CHINA!!

DTC:
October 6, 2006

We are officially DTC (Dossier to China) today. I got an e-mail from America World with our fedex tracking number so that we can make sure it arrives in Bejing safely. What an answer to prayer that we were able to finish our dossier in just 5 months. We were lucky and blessed so many times along the way. It takes some families 10 months to get everything done. We are so excited to begin our long but well-worth it wait. We will continue to update, thanks for checking in on us.

Also Ethan and I are starting a book for Charlotte. We are going to add stuff to it as we wait and then she can have it when she finally gets home. We painted our first entries last night. Check out the picture below.

Where it all began...Our Story

Our story, those words include so much more than we could ever write but we wanted to give you all little background on how God led us to adoption and soon to Charlotte.

Jay and I were married August 8, 1998, the happiest day of our lives. We are truly blessed to have found each other. Jay is so much more than my husband, he is my best friend and I thank God everyday for him. On February 12, 2001 our son Ethan was born. He blesses us everyday, with his sweet spirit, warm heart and gentleness. Ethan is the coolest kid we know and a blessing to everyone he comes in contact with. After having Ethan we knew our family would grow. We love being parents. When Ethan was 18 months old we began trying to have another child. The months started to roll by and no baby. We had a miscarriage at one point but kept persevering. After more than a year with no success we contacted an infertility specialist. During this time I had already begun researching adoption, particularly international adoption. I even had info packets sent to the house. One packet came with a DVD. I put the DVD in and cried as I watched Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife adopt their first child from China. Was this what we were supposed to do, was this how God wanted us to grow our family? We talked about it a little but eventually put in on the back burner and moved on with life. I continued seeing the Infertility Specialist and after a battery of tests all we found was some scar tissue on my ovaries. I had laproscopic surgery to correct the problem and was given a 75% chance of becoming pregnant within the next year. That year went by and still no baby. Jay and I decided to move forward with In vitro-Fertilization, maybe this was God's plan we told ourselves. Lots of medication and hundreds of injections later, one small embryo was fertilized and I was positive that our baby was going to be in our arms soon. My first blood results after the transfer were very good, I was pregnant. However, it was short lived. My next two test results showed that I was going to miscarry. This pregnancy was not to be and we were devastated. But remember, God had already been working on my heart. Remember the research I did, the DVD I watched. The people I would see around town with little girls from China. I finally realized God's plan for our family. We needed to adopt a little girl from China. God still had some probing to do on Jay's heart but within a few weeks we knew our next step. We applied to America World Adoption Agency-a Christian agency and the same one that Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife used to adopt their now 3 daughters from China. This adoption process has already been so positive. We see God at work in this adoption journey over and over again. And we have a little boy who cannot wait to be a big brother. We still have a journey ahead of us and it is not always going to be easy. But one thing we have learned is that it is all in God's hands. He will guide us and point us in the right direction if we listen. We continue to pray for this journey and hope that we are finally on the right path. We ask that you will do the same for our family.



Our Family

Adoption Timeline

May 3rd Sent application to AWAA

May 16th Approved to adopt from through AWAA

June 26th Went to AWAA for1st home study meeting

July 22nd 2nd home study meeting at our house

July 24th 3rd home study meeting with Jay alone

July 25th 4th home study meeting with Carla alone

July 26th Sent in I-600A application to federal government

August 3rd Home Study Report Completed

August 11th Sent all notarized paperwork to the Sec. of the Commonwealth for certification

August 17th Received our certified documents for the Sec. of the Commonwealth

August 23rd Fingerprinted for FBI check

August 31st I-171h approved

Sept. 6th Received our I-171h approval in the mail. We can now officially adopt internationally

Sept. 15th Sent documents to US State Department for Authentication

Sept. 27th Documents back from the State Department

Sept. 29th Travel to DC to get Chinese Authentication then dropped off completed Dossier at AWAA

Oct. 6th DOSSIER TO CHINA

Oct. 24th Approved for Special Needs Referral
We are now also on the Interested families List for waiting children.

Nov. 6th LOG IN DATE - We are official!

JUNE 28TH REFERRAL!!!!!!!
She is a cutie! DOB 6/25/06
Yang Chun Hua Sha

July 7th Electronic LOI